Will Ajit’s Wife Sunetra Emerge As New Pawar Centre Of NCP? Inside Maharashtra’s Most Influential Political Dynasty

28th January 2026 at 4:50 PM

2 minutes read

Mumbai : Maharashtra’s political turf is among the most tumultuous in India, and it seems that even fate deals the state the heaviest blows. A regular Wednesday in the first month of 2026 has brought news that could change Maharashtra’s political course. With Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s death in an air crash in Baramati, both his NCP and Maharashtra politics face a slew of questions.

Sunetra Pawar might now emerge as a matriarch figure in both the NCP and Maharashtra politics. Originally from Dharashiv in the Marathwada region, she also comes from a politically influential family, and is the sister of Padamsinh Patil, a former state minister and Lok Sabha MP. Married to Ajit Pawar in 1985, Sunetra has long been known as the “Pawar bahu”, the daughter-in-law of the Pawar family. Sunetra Pawar is seen as a sharp person, who, despite not being very politically active, maintains a strong network in both Baramati and the Marathwada region of Maharashtra.

Sunetra, who comes from an agriculturist-political family, wears multiple hats. Apart from a politician, she is also a social worker, industrialist, and an academic administrator. Despite being the wife of a six-time deputy chief minister and a tall figure of the Pawar clan, Sunetra was never seemingly overshadowed by Ajit. She built her own political and social space. As chairperson of the Baramati Textile Company, she oversees operations in a sector vital to Maharashtra’s economy.

She has also served as a think tank member of the World Entrepreneurship Forum in France, which engages in global discussions on entrepreneurship and sustainability. Suentra Pawar is also a trustee of Vidya Pratishthan — an educational trust established by Sharad Pawar — which educates over 25,000 students. She is also the senate member at Savitribai Phule Pune University since 2017, where she is involved in policy on higher education.

Sunetra Pawar’s entry into active politics came much later, in 2024. A leader of the NCP, headed by her husband Ajit Pawar, Sunetra contested the Lok Sabha elections from Baramati, the family’s stronghold, but lost to her sister-in-law Supriya Sule of the rival Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) faction. Just about a fortnight after the Lok Sabha polls, she was nominated and elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra, succeeding former Union Civil Aviation Minister and NCP’s national executive president, Praful Patel.